Imperfect information on the delivery of basic services make its difficult for policy-makers to manage principal-agent problems in the delivery chain and for recipients to hold their governments accountable.
Crowdsourced information can help to fix feedback loops and new technologies and apps are making this feasible.
I wanted to test out one of the most talked about platforms–Ushahidi. So before a recent trip to PNG I set up the FixMyRoad website using Crowdmap–a web-based version of Ushahidi that is relatively easy to set-up and configure. The settings are intuitive and after a bit of fiddling I got the basic functionality working and tested it out by uploading reports on the state of PNG’s roads from the press. While not ‘crowdsourcing’, this exercise was interesting in itself in building up a picture of where the road problems are in PNG.
Then, just before leaving for PNG we discovered that Abau, our destination, was flooded. I uploaded the report and wondered whether we would be able to make it down the Magi Highway from Port Moresby to Cape Rodney in Abau.
A week later we were in PNG and hired a 4WD vehicle for the drive down the Highway. It was tough going, but we finally made it to Abau.
I had not been able to get the FrontlineSMS plugin working on Crowdmap, so was unable to send in reports on the state of PNG roads via SMS. However, I was able to post a report via the web and even upload a video of a bogged down PMV.
The next step is to see if I can fix up an SMS-reporting plugin–any ideas on doing this would we welcome–and chat some more to NGOs in PNG about how this kind of platform can help with social accountability.
